 Hello there and welcome back to my YouTube channel. This is Daniel Rossell. I make videos about life in Israel and Jerusalem. As I've been covering lots of themes related to aviation and travel recently, I wanted to make a video about the airports in Israel. Many people assume that there's only one airport in Israel, Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, although that's not actually the case. Israel actually has quite an interesting selection of airfields. There are in fact two international airports, one at Ben Gurion and the other, Ramon Airport near Elat. But in addition to those two, there are a number of smaller airfields dotted throughout the country. For instance, not everybody is aware that there's actually an airport near Haifa. Haifa Airport has a single runaway of just over 4,000 feet in length, making it only really suitable for propeller aircraft. Nevertheless, this summer, Israel, which focuses mostly on domestic flights in Israel, will continue their seasonal flights between Haifa and Limousal in Cyprus. Another somewhat obscure Israeli airport is the Kiryat Shmone Airport located just outside Kiryat Shmone, the northernmost city in Israel. Previously, there were flights operating between Kiryat Shmone and Stadov Airport in Tel Aviv, serving the needs of Israelis who wanted to get between these two cities quicker than they could be wrote. The service, however, was discontinued in 2007, and Stadov Airport has also since been decommissioned. Besides airports, there are private airfields and military bases dotted throughout Israel. The military bases serve the needs of the Israeli Air Force, and the private airfields such as Habonim Airfield are used for general aviation, which means private flying. The Israeli Air Force maintained some operations at Ben Gurion Airport until 2008 at Air Force Base 27, which dated back to the days of Mandatory Palestine and was once in fact operated by the British Air Force. In 2008, the last unit stationed at the base were removed to Neva Team airfield located near Bersheva. The two international airports of any real significance in Israel are Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv and Ramon Airport just outside of Elat. The airport in Elat opened in January of 2019 and took over operations from Elat Airport, which was formally located in the city of Elat, and which ceased operations in March of 2019 just after the Ramon Airport opened. However, Ben Gurion and Elat aren't really of equal significance. Ben Gurion is a vastly busier airport facilitating in excess of 20 million passengers per year. Ramon Airport mostly serves the needs of residents of the southern city of Elat and those looking to vacation in that city specifically and is only equipped to serve about 2 million passengers per year. The newish airport in Elat however does play a very important role for diversions from Ben Gurion Airport and also provides Israel with critical air redundancy during times when Ben Gurion's regular traffic is disrupted, for example due to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. So the vast majority of passengers flying to or from Israel will use Ben Gurion Airport. Ben Gurion Airport is technically situated on the outskirts of Lod, although it's only 20 kilometers southwest of Tel Aviv. Until 1973 it was actually known as Lod Airport. The name changed to Ben Gurion was an honor of David Ben Gurion who was Israel's first prime minister. Ben Gurion Airport dates back to 1934 and was actually first constructed by the British as an airbase with two unpaid runways. In April 1948, shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, the British ceded control of the airfield to the nascent Jewish state. Ben Gurion Airport has three runways, the longest of which is runway 0826, nicknamed the Quiet Runway, and which is a little over 13,000 feet in length. Given the length of Ben Gurion's three runways, it is suitable for white-body aircraft arriving or departing on long-haul flights to the US, Asia, and indeed around the world. However, Ben Gurion isn't one of the 140 airports worldwide that are equipped to handle the Airbus 380. Given the sheer size of that aircraft, airports wishing to host it require especially wide taxi ways. In fact, in 2022, the Israel airport's authority, which operates Ben Gurion, decided to ban the Boeing 747, the Airbus 340, and the Airbus 380 from its airfield. The move was intended to reduce noise and pollution, and took effect in March of 2023. So this is actually the first summer season during which jumbo jets will be conspicuously absent from the airport. Ben Gurion Airport is mostly used for international aviation. However, there are regular daily services running between it and Ramon Airport outside of Elat. Flight time on the Tel Aviv to Elat route is about 45 minutes, and the route is operated by both Arkea and Israel using an Airbus 321. The vast majority of international flights use Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion for arrival and departures. Terminal 1 is used mostly by domestic traffic and a few low-cost operators. The list of destinations served from Ben Gurion includes American cities like New York and Atlanta, the much closer Cairo, destinations throughout Europe, and those in the Far East. The airport is the hub of Israel's flag carrier El Al, and cargo operators at the airfield include Cal, which is an Israeli cargo operator, El Al cargo, Lufthansa cargo, and DHL. By number of passengers, Istanbul in Turkey is the most popular destination according to 2022 figures. Dubai is interestingly now number three, and New York only comes in fifth place. El Al, followed by Wiz and Ryanair, are the airlines carrying the most passengers to and from the airport. The second fact really demonstrates how quickly the open skies agreement has changed the face of travel for Israelis. If you'd like to learn more about that historic aviation accord then check out my video on the subject. Connectivity-wise, the Tel Aviv to Jerusalem fast train passes through the airport, and bus links between the two cities to the air conduit are regular. Ben Gurion is widely regarded as being the most secure airport in the world. It is protected by Israel using both covert and overt practices, most famously including in-person interviews during which human agents look for body language clues that may indicate cause for further suspicion. No attempt to hijack a plane departing Ben Gurion has ever succeeded. Thanks for watching, until next time.